Published on May 26, 2011

Staff ~ The Cape Breton Post RSS Feed

ST. ANNS — An exhibit that tells the story of the journey of hundreds of Gaels from Scotland to Pictou and from St. Anns to Waipu, New Zealand, opened Thursday at the Gaelic College.

Through both audio and visual means, the exhibit interprets the story of Rev. Norman MacLeod, a 19th Century Presbyterian minister, who, with his followers, originally settled on the Gaelic College site in 1820. In 1850, near starvation struck the community in the wake of the potato blight and crop-killing frosts and, at the age of 70, MacLeod moved his flock to New Zealand. 

“We felt that with the new tourist season upon us, this was a good time to officially open the MacLeod Exhibit, which really tells the story of how it all began,” said Gaelic college executive director Peggy MacAskill. “The fact that Rev. MacLeod settled this property and lived here for 31 years gave Rev. A.W.R. MacKenzie the idea to actually found the Gaelic College. The goal continues to be to preserve and teach the language, culture, music, crafts and customs of the Gaelic Scots that settled here.”

 

MacAskill noted the exhibit tells the story of one of the most remarkable migrations in Canadian history.

 

 “The exhibit takes you through community life and religion and what happened once the potato famine hit. Nearly 1,000 left St. Anns and followed Rev. MacLeod, eventually ending up in Waipiu, New Zealand.”

 The opening of the MacLeod Exhibit completes phase two of St. Anns Centre. The first phase was the completion of the interactive stations in the Hall of the Clans which offers visitors a chance to immerse themselves in the culture with hands-on interpretive exhibits.

The third phase will be the textile and art centre.

“The Hall of the Clans will eventually become a complete interpretive exhibit space where you can sit at the table with a storyteller, participate in a milling frolic or learn a step at the dance station, a complete interactive experience for our visitors,” she said. “We want people to be able to experience more of the Celtic culture through interactive displays and demonstrations.”

The Gaelic college was founded in 1938 to help preserve the customs and traditions of Cape Breton Scottish immigrants. Since then it has gained international attention for quality programming in areas such as highland bagpipe, Cape Breton fiddle, Scottish small pipes, pipe band drumming, Gaelic song, highland dance, piano accompaniment, step dance, Celtic harp, weaving, bodhran and Gaelic immersion.

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